[wildbill]

by now you are all long time forum reader and have read about wildbill and his 327 new bikes but not today...lol
while looking over photos of the military and storm I am pretty sure it hasn't been done before so why not mask up that high gloss tail light housing remove the number plate and give it a good spray over with a bit of matte black paint.
now even my new camo still had that shiny full gloss housing. plus this would work well on the tan C5 too
now 'tenacres650' mentioned I should complete my work over on the 'despatch model'  and matte black the tail end. I thought it over and followed through. good call too.
best move ever. this really took that gloss effect off the rear end and shows the bike off really nicely- now it looks like how it should have been painted when it left the factory.
so for just 30 minutes work you can transform your bike's tail end to a matte black finish for very little outlay and at a later date if you want to go back to the original high gloss finish it's such a small area to paint - this re-work would be real push over you will have no trouble getting the gloss on  - providing you don't paint on a cold day

prior to painting




after the matte black treatment

[Ice]

 Brilliant !!

[wildbill]

thanks ice
I think any-one who has one of the above colour schemes should try it out. no skill require to paint a tail light housing you can either paint on or off the bike.

[tenacres650]

the matt black looks much better that the gloss black, but I don't know why they didn't just stick with green instead of black??

[wildbill]

green would work fine too. if mine gets any darker I will require a torch to find it....lol

[Rattlebattle]

But I like mine the way it is.....Each to his own and respect for doing such a good job. I tend to keep my bikes for years if they are good ones (well, at least until the paint's dry ). The look I want to cultivate is to have a nice patina showing years of use. I want oily grime on the rear wheel, showing a well-oiled machine. I want it to look 50 years old, not like a new or rebuilt ex WD bike. I just like the colour scheme and the unique bits I don't care that it doesn't look like an authentic WW2 bike. If that's the look you're after why not buy the headlamp blackout mask Hitchcocks sell (but don't try riding it at night!)

Nice job though.

[Blairio]

I agree. The patina of age is the history of a bike written across all its finish, dents, rust and all.  A bike that is well used and well maintained has a look quite unlike something straight out of a showroom.  If you are really looking for an authentic military bike, look no further than ex war dept mid 40's  BSA M20's and Harleys & Indians of the same era.  The whole look and feel is different from some kind of factory fresh 'homage' to these kind of bikes.

[malky]

If you like patina, and you want to drop hints for a "stocking filler" , if you don't already have it, there's a book called "my cool motorcycle", you'll get it off Amazon. Full of used bikes and their owners. Fantastic W.D. M20, brush paint and all.

[Carlsberg Wordsworth]

@ malky - I'll drop hints. Can't imagine the kindle edition displaying well unless it's a Fire or similar though.

Having 'mucked' about with my housing this weekend in an attempt to line it up straight (success of sorts), I notice only three fasteners are now used for the backplate instead of the four mine has.

Tail unit looks good in matt.

[Rattlebattle]

Yes the army was more concerned with minimising downtime than polishing; that's why it was usual to swap a complete engine and then repair the one removed in slow time. Hence today engine and frame numbers rarely matched. Most common WD bike was the M20; if you were especially lucky you might have got a Matchless or a Norton. Anyway, I'm off to put an authentic dent in my tank and exhaust now.....not.

[Blairio]

If you like patina, and you want to drop hints for a "stocking filler" , if you don't already have it, there's a book called "my cool motorcycle", you'll get it off Amazon. Full of used bikes and their owners. Fantastic W.D. M20, brush paint and all.

That sounds like a good read. There is a 'sister' publication called "My Cool Bike" by Chris Haddon. It looks at bicycles and in particular bike culture in different parts of the world.  The photos & stories are great.

http://www.cyclemiles.co.uk/shop/bicycles/my-cool-bike-chris-haddon/#.Vkq5VoStD0c

[Sectorsteve]

looks way better.
my tailights scuffed to hell from lugging a swag on the back....ill leave it as is. looks funky. matt black is the go though. great job.

[suitcasejefferson]

Looks nice. But I would have removed it and sanded it completely before painting. I tend to be really picky about such things. As for patina, I have a couple of bikes and a couple of cars with patina, and they run just fine and are reliable. But I keep the Enfield cleaned and polished. If I could afford to buy and ride another Enfield (preferably an Iron Barrel) I wouldn't mind it having some patina. My worry with the Enfield I have is that they won't be available much longer, and I want to have a nice one. I have sold/traded so many bikes I wish I had back, but they are no longer available. I see my Enfield (eventually with a carb and a different "silencer" ) as a keeper.

[wildbill]

if this was a keeper -that would be the correct way to do it too but there are no guarantees my way...lol so it's more a quick 5 minute hit to give some idea what can be done and if the keepers on the forum like what they see - follow on

[Blairio]

I guess this is the idea behind buying two of something new - the latest trainers/sneakers or whatever: you put one set in the cupboard and wear the other. But if I could afford two Enfields I would buy two different ones, or rather I would keep my Electra and buy a Continental GT as well. 

If the current crop of Enfields stopped being made tomorrow (heaven forbid) there will be second hand ones to be had for years & decades to come, and Hitchcocks will still be stocking parts for them. Enfields are not most folk's main bike, so I reckon there would be plenty of very tidy examples.